The woman went from being this fragile meek thing, to pure warrior the minute the word rolled off my tongue. She whirled around and drew back like she was seriously contemplating slapping the dog shit out of me.
“Fuck you,” she ground out, so soft and gracefully. The tears won over, and she set her jaw as they spilled down her pretty cheeks.
I hated seeing it, but I didn’t know what to say to make it better or even what I’d said to provoke them.
“Where is your mother’s fucking cage, huh? It’s not cute when someone talks about a woman you love like that, is it? Every. Fucking. Time. Every time with you assholes.” She leaned down, and it took me a minute to grasp that she was undoing her low-heeled sandal.
I shifted backwards, raising my finger as I did so. “Don’t.” The warning rolled off my lips.
I’d suffer a woman slapping me, but I wasn’t about to be putting on a Springer episode in a waffle spot parking lot.
She popped her head up and stared at me, confusion evident in her eyes before her pretty face contorted into hurt again.
“What the fuck do you take me for? First you tell me I belong in a cage, and now you act like, what? I’m supposed to entertain theneighborhood throwing shoes at your sorry ass?” She flubbed her lips, “Get the fuck over yourself, Anthony Big Shot Biker. You ain’t worth throwing words at, let alone my boutique sandals.”
The snort that she plucked from me, and the smile that cemented was more genuine than anything I’d felt in months. She was probably right. I probably wasn’t worth her fucking time, but I was already seventy miles in and signed up for a night with the club enforcer over her, I couldn’t walk away now…
I tilted my head, and smiled, hoping she’d see how ridiculous we looked.
Instead, it seemed to leave her seething. She clenched her teeth and growled with more frustration than I knew a woman could muster. Of course, all it did was leave her sounding like a feral lap dog.
I blurted out a laugh that lit her eyes up all over again.
“Swear to God,” she clipped, through gritted teeth, before letting go of her breath and telling me how she really felt, “Every last one of you is good looking for no goddamn reason. Just, none at all. Smelling like a fortune and knowing damn well you ain’t got nothing to offer a woman but foolishness and wasted time. Boy, bye!”
She finished unfastening her sandals, gathered them in one hand, and started the other way
“Look at you, Crystal,” I called after her, “You’re spittin’ mad, and you’re still the girl of my dreams.”
My attempts to flatter her only caused her to walk faster. I huffed and put some effort into keeping pace.
“But, ‘ey… Did you really just say I was hot? Can we talk about that for a minute?” I taunted, desperate for her to stop.
Instead, a bit of small pebble seemed to catch her step and her ankle twisted. She wrenched with the motion, but it didn’t stop her from hurling that damned sandal at me after all.
I flung my arm up and caught it just before it struck my chest.
The hand she’d released it with flew to her mouth like she couldn’t believe her own actions. The horror and fear in her eyes melted my own shock and I smiled and saluted her with my chin.
“Right.” I hefted the sandal in the air like a victory prize and flashed a cheeky grin, “Well, now what? Are you gonna rough it all the way home with only one shoe, or are you taking a ride with me, and the boutique sandal?”
I didn’t wait for her response; I turned and started back toward the bike with the prize.
Chapter Ten
Making Demands
Crystal
My heart hammered in my chest, terrified of how he’d react. When he flashed that stupid grin and trotted off toward a motorcycle like I’d given him a victory prize, my outrage got the best of me.
Those sandals cost half of a paycheck!
“I’m sorry.” I swallowed the bitter taste the apology left in my mouth and dodged pebbles and potholes alike until I caught up with him next to the midnight-blue Harley.
“I’ll forgive you.” He smiled and offered the sandal back. I cautiously took it and he added, “If you let me give you a ride home.”
I ignored him for a minute, while bending down and strapping the sandals back onto my feet. They were still aching from last night, and I hated that I couldn’t just take them off and relax a while.
